


Little Red Sweater

by nubianamy



Category: Glee
Genre: Fairy Tale Retellings, Future Fic, M/M, Red Riding Hood Elements, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27364204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nubianamy/pseuds/nubianamy
Summary: Dave tells his son a story.
Relationships: Kurt Hummel/David Karofsky
Comments: 14
Kudos: 25
Collections: Kurtofsky Week - Ten Year Anniversary





	Little Red Sweater

**Author's Note:**

> For [Day 2 of Kurtofsky Week, 10th Anniversary Edition](https://karofsky.tumblr.com/post/630911758407745536/kurtofsky-week-the-10-year-anniversary-dates) (Prompt: Genre Flip) Inspired by Kurt's red sweater in 2x20.

“Papa?” Dave looked up to see Isaac standing at the bottom of the staircase, trailing his blanket.

“Hey, buddy.” He set down his pen and glanced at the rain drumming against the window. “Storm bothering you?”

He nodded. When Dave gestured, he took the last step down and wandered over to press close to Dave’s leg. “The wind is loud.”

“How about I go upstairs with you,” he suggested.

Isaac nodded. His tiny hand was nearly engulfed in Dave’s, and he tripped over the feet of his too-long footie pajamas twice as he made his determined way up half the staircase, around the corner on the landing, and up the second half. He did the whole process on his own. Dave remained silent and watchful, not offering to help; Isaac wouldn’t have accepted it anyway.

When they got to Isaac’s room, Dave moved to sit in the desk chair, but Isaac begged, “Read to me?”

“It’s a little late for a story, buddy.” He reached over to turn off the overhead light, but paused when he saw Isaac’s worried expression. “How about I tell you a story instead? We don’t need light for that. Here, scootch over.”

Isaac gladly made room for Dave, tucking his nubbly, worn blanket between the two of them. His little feet kicked gleefully under the covers until Dave put a hand on his knee, and he settled down.

“Do a once-upon-a-time story,” Isaac said.

“Mmm. Okay.” Dave thought about the date on the calendar, the events of that past that had been occupying his mind all day, and settled back against Isaac’s slender shoulder with a sigh. “Once upon a time, there was… a wolf.”

“Was he big and bad?”

“He wasn’t always. But… yeah, I guess he was bad.” Details were not essential in a story like this, but he had to be honest. “And he was definitely big. Big enough to scare anybody who got too close. All he had to do was growl and bare his teeth and… you know, say mean things, and most everybody was scared of him.”

“Why?”

“He was lonely. He didn’t think anybody was really his friend.” Dave made a thumbs-down motion, and Isaac stuck a hand out from under the blanket to mimic him. “It was easier to be scary than to worry if people thought he was okay the way he was.”

“He should ask people to play with him,” Isaac advised. “You have to be a friend before you can have a friend.”

Dave had to grin. “Let me guess which cartoon you heard that on. But yeah, it’s good advice. He wasn’t trying very hard to be anybody’s friend, so he just kept getting badder. Worse.”

He could see the hallway of McKinley in his mind’s eye, Kurt wearing his red sweater, standing out among the wash of muted tones, like a cardinal. There was no way he would have been ignored dressed like that.

“On his way through the woods, he met Little Red Sweater.”

“That’s not her name.” Isaac didn’t sound too annoyed by the modification, though.

“He’s a boy. He sometimes wore a red hood, but today, it was a sweater. The wolf made a decision to be as bad as he could be to Little Red Sweater, because…” Dave paused, trying to imagine why he might have done anything at all to Kurt, other than _because he could._ “Because he wanted to be bad to somebody, and Little Red Sweater stood out. He was littler and nicer.”

Isaac clutched at his arm. “I don’t like the wolf.”

“He wasn’t very likable. As Little Red Sweater came through the woods, the wolf did everything he could to annoy him. He dumped him into garbage cans, and he spilled snow-cones on his head, and called him names.”

“That’s bullying,” Isaac said distinctly.

Dave patted his hand. “You’re right. It is.”

“Ms. Jenny said we have to tell a teacher. Can Little Red Sweater tell a teacher?”

“He did, actually. I think he told a couple of them. The teacher even saw the other kids being mean to Little Red Sweater, but she just said, _My hands are tied._ So for a while, Little Red Sweater ignored the wolf.”

“Did it work?”

“Not very well. The wolf just got meaner. He had some other wolf friends, but this wolf was the biggest and meanest. Then, one day, Little Red Sweater followed the wolf deeper into the woods.”

Dave got a little lost in his memories until Isaac pulled on his arm. “Papa, don’t stop.”

“Yeah, sorry.” He smiled down at him. “This time, though, Little Red Sweater had a weapon. A sword. It was made out of words, sharp ones, and they cut through the wolf’s meanness.”

Isaac cringed a little. “What happened to the wolf? Did he get hurt?”

“No, he didn’t. Where the words touched him, he grew his own red jacket, and a hat. His wolfiness was hidden, a little bit at a time, so that he looked more like Little Red Sweater.”

“Oh, I know… he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

“He was,” Dave agreed, feeling a pang. “It wasn’t exactly like he was suddenly nice, but maybe the jacket gave him a little space to imagine what it would be like if he stopped being bad, for real. Then, do you know what happened?”

Even in the dark, Dave could see how big Isaac’s eyes were. “What?”

“Under the red jacket, his wolfy outsides began to melt away. The wolf didn’t like it very much. Eventually, he was all alone, with no more claws or fur or teeth, nothing but the memories of his badness. It was scary to be reminded how terrible he was, all the bad things he’d done to other people.”

“He could say he was sorry.”

“He did,” Dave said softly. “That was just the beginning, though. You can’t just say you’re sorry. You have to work at showing you’re sorry, in a way that matters.”

“Like…” Isaac’s four-year-old comprehension was clearly being taxed. “He could make a card?”

“Like he had to tell the truth about who he was inside. Not just not to be a wolf, but to be the best _him_ he could be, and to help others be themselves, too.”

“Did he get to have his own sword?”

Dave chuckled. “Kind of. Teaching school is a little like having a magic sword that makes people smarter. And his students knew they were always safe being who they were, because the wolf made a safe space for that to happen.”

Isaac yawned and closed his eyes. “What about Little Red Sweater’s sword?”

“He had even better magic. The kind that makes the whole world more beautiful.”

It was an inadequate ending by anybody’s standards, but Isaac was too sleepy to hear the conclusion anyway. Dave leaned over and kissed his forehead, then drew the covers up over his shoulder, tucking his blanket in beside him.

“I’d like to think the sword caused the wolf’s true nature to be revealed,” said Kurt from the doorway.

“That happened later,” Dave said, smiling at his husband. “I can jump ahead if you want?”

“You don’t have to tell me the story. I was there.”

Kurt reached out and took Dave’s hand. They gazed at their sleeping son for a moment before heading downstairs.

“I wonder sometimes what my story would have been like, if you hadn’t been there to help me,” Dave said.

“You would have figured it out eventually. I don’t think true goodness can remain concealed forever.” He hugged Dave, resting his head on his chest. “You transformed yourself, as much as you’d like to blame it on me.”

“I may have made the transformation,” Dave murmured. “But you’re the one who provided the happily ever after.”


End file.
